Ivan Dvorny

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameIvan Vasilyevich•Dvorny
Used nameIvan•Dvorny
Original nameИван Васильевич•Дворный
Born5 January 1952 in Yasnaya Polyana, Omsk (RUS)
Died21 September 2015 in Omsk, Omsk (RUS)
Measurements207 cm / 105 kg
AffiliationsUralmash Sverdlovsk
NOC Soviet Union
Nationality Russian Federation
Medals OG
Gold 1
Silver 0
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

Born in a small village near Omsk, Ivan Dvorny did track and field athletics (mostly shot put) in his youth and did not take up basketball until 1966, when he moved to Omsk to study in high school. Dvorny started professional basketball with Uralmash Sverdlovsk in 1969 and from 1971-73 played with Spartak Leningrad. With Spartak, Dvorny won the silvers at the Soviet championships in 1972 and 1973 and the FIBA European Cup Winner’s Cup in 1973. Dvorny was selected to the Soviet national team in 1970, after playing on the winning European Junior Champions. The high point of his career was at the 1972 Olympics, where the Soviet team beat the Americans in a highly controversial final, by 51-50, and won a gold medal.

The next year the Soviet team, as the reigning Olympic champions, had a two-month tour of America, but after returning from America, Dvorny was arrested and charged with smuggling and received a three-year prison sentence. Apparently Dvorny had bought a pair of jeans and a shirt in America, had not declared them in customs and had attempted to sell them in Sverdlovsk, but there were also wide-spread rumors that it was actually a mock-trial, as a KGB attempt to tone down the popularity of the Soviet basketball team, who had become national heroes after winning the Olympic gold.

After serving his sentence, Dvorny returned to basketball, but at less than his previous level. From 1976-78 he played with Spartak Vladivostok and from 1978-80 was with Dynamo Moskva, but with little success. Dvorny retired from basketball in 1980, at only 28-years-old. Because of his criminal record, Dvorny had difficulty finding a job, so from 1980-94 he worked as a fitter at the locomotive depot Moskovka in Omsk and from 1994-2000 worked as a maintenance man at the Omsk fire department. In 2001 Dvorny emigrated to the United States, where he settled in Baltimore, Maryland, and worked at a local supermarket for nearly 10 years before returning to Russia. From 2012 until his death from lung cancer, Dvorny was president of the Omsk Region Basketball Federation. Since 2009 an annual basketball tournament in his honor has been held in Omsk.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal Nationality As
1972 Summer Olympics Basketball (Basketball) URS RUS Ivan Dvorny
Basketball, Men (Olympic) Soviet Union 1 Gold